Rudder Repair

[Bobglas]

Andaluz gets trailered alot. Most trips are 200 plus miles some more. This past summer I noticed damage to the top of the rudder. This winter I took it off for repair. It appears the damage is centered about the traveling bolt hole (for lack of better nomenclature) probably from bouncing up and down on our magnificently smooth highways. Since no damage appears around the main pivot hole I'm thinking using a Dremel and enlarging the cracks to fill w/ epoxy ala dental cavity prep. I'm not terribly good w/ fiberglass techniques. Any advice re: methods and materials would be appreciated. Also thinking of drilling holes low to attach bungies for traveling to absorb shock.

[Highlander]

I,m wondering if that is caused by water laying in there over the winter & freezing & splitting the rudder,s while stored in the upright position Outside over winter

J

[Jimmyt]

I don't use the hole to support my rudders. Just throwing out an alternative for you.

[Cee Kat Crew]

Thanks for posting what happened to your rudder heads.
Hope you can get them fixed up good as new.
Your post has given me an incentive to do my ounce of prevention.....

I,m wondering if that is caused by water laying in there over the winter & freezing & splitting the rudder,s while stored in the upright position Outside over winter

J

Good point!
I'm going to check my rudders today.

I don't use the hole to support my rudders. Just throwing out an alternative for you.

Good idea!
Lashing the rudders to minimize the impact forces between the bolts and holes from the bumps of road travel.

[Tomfoolery]

I don't use the hole to support my rudders. Just throwing out an alternative for you.

I do something similar with my . One dock line keeps the mast from moving side-to-side, and another passes behind the rudders, from one dock cleat to the other. I don't use any bolts or pins; the leverage is just too high.

The regular lines and cleats are perfectly fine for supporting the rudders, and the dock line is there as a backup and is a completely independent system.

[mikiwi]

Thanks for the idea of using a dock line. We have a X so I can see simple and very effective.
Thanks again.

[Bobglas]

Yeah, crazy leverage forces. Jimmy T's solution looks like the way to go, maybe w/ a truckers hitch to keep it as tight as possible. Now to just figure out how to fix. 8 years of highway bouncing to overcome, or maybe I should move to the coast?

[Jimmyt]

Yeah, crazy leverage forces. Jimmy T's solution looks like the way to go, maybe w/ a truckers hitch to keep it as tight as possible. Now to just figure out how to fix. 8 years of highway bouncing to overcome, or maybe I should move to the coast?

61 deg F, blowing 9 out of the east. You could be sailing right now...

[Dougiestyle]

My 2 cents! Grind out all cracks and bad material with a grinder (cheap one will work) and Flap disk. I use a 36 grit and it will take off some meat Be careful.
Figure out how you want to lay on the new fiberglass. Use some chopped strand mat (CSM)fiberglass and some woven fiberglass alternating for your buildup. Go to youtube and look up boatworks. I would probably use polyester resin due to I believe they used polyester resin when built.

Both of my rudders were in poor shape due to ice. So I did what looks like a strong repair and will be finished soon. I did this for the experience. I have done some fiberglass repair before and this became a good project for me. But in the mean time I bought 2 new rudders from BWY and the old ones can be used for back-ups?